Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Riverwalk Downtown — Hotel in San Antonio

Disappointing and in my opinion not to the standards of other properties with the same Hilton branding.||Check-in:|Depressing and underwhelming. No information on breakfast or where amenities are, how to get to the river walk, nothing. |Lobby looks great but that's where all good things end. There's absolutely nothing special happening at this place at check-in or anytime after that.||Room:|Really bad.|Moldy smell combined with the dirtiest carpet rotting from the lack of cleaning. I have never seen anything like this before at a public place. Combine that with a/c vents or filters (or both) that smelled like they haven't been cleaned in decades.. yes, imagine the smell. ||Bathrooms are average but need TLC.|Soap dispensers don't stay on the wall and the ceramic title ring edges round the shower drain and the metal drain itself, are sharp and can cut your feet if you are not careful.||I'm a HH member with status and offered to pay for my own upgrade when I realized how bad this situation was going to be, they offered no solution. End of conversation. There was a conference in town and they said they didn't have any upgrades available. With that said, I had to ask twice to be offered any type of solution aside from me asking to pay to upgrade, the second time they reacted because I did so via the text function instead of the phone, and now it was in writing. They offered to move me to a "comparable" room which smelled even more foul than the one i had. Carpet looked exactly the same. Issue was not resolved.||I picked this hotel because a family member loves the hotel and the location and we planned to meet in San Antonio for the weekend. Obviously they've had a much better experience at this hotel and have stayed multiple times (their room during our stay was much cleaner than mine btw- they are a family and booked a much larger room and to be fair, it was rather nice and no smell, carpet looked much cleaner/newer) -but if you book a standard/smaller room here, be prepared to potentially sleep in what smells like the inside of a dumpster.||A/C malfunctioned second night i was there at 3am. Lady helped me reset it and adjust over the phone. Worked fine the next day.||If you decide to split your groups and use the sleeper sofas - know that the bed isn't made and there is nothing in the closets. no blankets, pillows etc. -You have to ask for that too. Everything at this hotel requires you to ask for favors from the front desk.||No way to get breakfast on site after 9:30am even if you offer to pay for it. |You have to go off property. (This was is on me - should've double checked the room service part but mentioning it in case that's helpful to someone).||Check-out:|More underwhelming than the check-in. |It's as if they are trained not to engage in conversation of any kind at check-out. |They do not ask you if you enjoyed your stay. They barely speak to you at all or make eye contact. It was a bit strange.|No apology was offered. No "we are sorry so many things went wrong during your stay -we hope you'll give us another chance" - Just let us charge your card and go away basically.||Positives:|-Location: Walk to everything.|-Lobby: Comfortable, ample space with great A/C. |-Breakfast (if you make it) is very pleasantly presented, clean and organized.|-Evening reception: A nice offering with several non-alcoholic options for people with children and non-drinkers in their group.|(Neither of the two included food options are particularly important to me but they are convenient for families with little ones and should be mentioned).|-Snacks and water available at their small on-site store at lobby level with a super quick ability to charge to the room (I was impressed by this part - very convenient -though it would be helpful if things had prices at the storefront for people to know what items cost). |-Some of the front desk agents are cordial but I'd say at the minimum. Not all are eager to help you or try to make sure you are comfortable, they just want you to go away basically. |Exception: Young African American gentleman that worked during early afternoon on Sunday 7/13. I didn't catch his name but his demeanor is completely opposite to the rest of the staff. He talks to everyone with genuine joy and a big smile. He was a breath of fresh air- he understands hospitality well and is made for it. (I wonder how my experience would have been if he had been working when I checked in). |Gilbert was a close second. Very nice as well. |The rest of them just seemed annoyed to be there to be honest and they don't want to hear it if your room is terrible. |-Dining area - Breakfast: Amber- nicest lady, incredibly helpful.|-The staff working the breakfast and evening happy hours- their patience with children is impressive. |-Beds are ok. Average but not bad.||Sadly, this was a bad experience. I travel often for work, sometimes to high end and sometimes to budget hotels, depending on the city. Cleanliness is the most important thing at a hotel and this hotel just didn't meet the basic standards for me.|Apples to apples comparison: I just stayed at another Embassy Suites (different city) for a conference 3.5 weeks ago, and it was exceptional. ||Tip for owners:|Cleanliness and Comfort are the absolute most basic expectation of your guests. If you don't do something about maintenance and proper deep cleaning, the guests will go elsewhere.|-Replace the carpets or invest in a deep clean with proper flea treatments.|-Change A/C filters and clean vents.|-Train staff to be more welcoming and most of all, teach them to problem solve. They seem a little lost and this could perhaps be a higher tier issue and not their fault.|These rather basic things will go a long way.||Tip for travelers|Value wise, this hotel is expensive for what you get when compared to other much nicer and renovated ones just a couple of blocks away. Particularly if you don't care for the breakfast or happy hour. I'd explore those options first.|If you do stay here, don't book standard rooms. Looks like those are the ones with issues. ||Personally, a never again hotel for me- but you do what you have to do to accommodate family as that's what is most important in the end. If they are coming back so will I but to a larger...

Firstly, Check in was not a good experience. They gave me the option to check in on the app. I am a Hilton Honors Member. They allowed me to pick my room. Mind you, they showed the room options! I chose the room the day before arrival. I requested early check in "if possible" which I know isn't guaranteed, but I gave a heads up. Showed up only an hour early. Website states check in at 4. At 3, I was told the room I chose isn't available, they had to move me two floors down and it wasn't ready & couldn't tell me when (but check in is at 4). I drove over 5 hours, was with 2 teenagers and had tickets for an activity at 5. I stored luggage and waited. At 10 minutes prior to check in time, I went up and saw a man (can't remember his name on duty the 25th of May from around 4 ish until 11p.m., who was very rude, because this story gets way worse)! He told me my room wasn't ready but there was something on the 12th. It went from 17, to 15 to 12 and it was 10 minutes to 4. I asked when it would be ready on the 15th. He said he didn't know & check in is 4 or anytime after 4. I told him the website says 4, not anytime after. He continued to be combative & told me I could take the one on 12 or wait & wouldn't tell me when the one on 15 would be ready or attempt to find out. I took12. The room was musty smelling & definitely not up to par with the Embassy Suites I'm used to seeing. It was old and run down & did not mirror the space of the room I saw in the pictures I booked. I was extremely disappointed. The lobby was beautiful. Very deceiving. We quickly refreshed and left. We went and did our activity came back a little before 9, the girls changed to swimsuits and we went to the "rooftop pool" on the 3rd floor.... It was dark, no lighting, very small and shallow water. The cement tiling was loose all over. After about 45 minutes I watched a boy freak out on the side of the pool as a roach crawled over his hand and then scurried across the edge of the pool... I quickly got the girls out and went to the room... I then proceeded to check the beds by lifting the sheets at the mattress corners and found what looked like a dead ant with an egg sack, I think.... Then one of my girls came out screaming as something was crawling on her head and some bug dropped out... likely from the pool... but we were over it all... I went down to the guy at the desk (same guy from checking in & he had the same attitude) showed him the Pic from my bed & he told me the hotel was fully booked & all he could do was give me new bedding. I asked if someone was going to come get the bug and change the bedding. No...he doesn't have housekeeping. So I'm supposed to change bedding on vacation? I don't even want to sleep in the bed at this point. Then the bedding he gives me isn't even what is on the bed, some ratty blue blankets and sheets. A maintenance tech was sent up to help...he was nice, but I already removed the bug while almost vomiting. I asked if I'd get a refund if I found another place to stay...the front desk guy said not for the current night but the second night. Clearly upset that he didnt seem to care one bit & expected me to pay to not sleep here under these conditions & had been checked in less than 7 hours ago and used the room maybe 2 hours. So, he said he would give me $100 off the night. So.... I had to pay almost $230 and pack up and leave the hotel at 11 pm because we were not comfortable sleeping in filth and bugs and the customer service was horrid! This ruins the Hilton & Embassy Suites name. I shouldn't have had to pay for a room under those conditions. I didn't sleep there & was barely in the room. The guy had zero clue what customer service is & really needs to consider a new career! Sad thing is that I have a trip in Virginia Beach booked in June at an Embassy Suites & now I have a sour taste in my mouth about...

My family and I are staying at this hotel and will NEVER be back. We have two senior citizen parents stuck on the 10th floor and 3 children UNDER 3 to carry up and down the stairs from the 6th floor because the elevators are not working!

After dealing with that and going to get food we were told that the service elevator is available for us. A group of about 15 people including myself and my husband headed down the hallway towards the service elevator. After standing for a little while, a lady (the manager says her name was Roxanne I think ) came to the hallway, closed the door, and stood in front of my husband and I. Another gentleman who works for the hotel opened the door again to allow more people in. At this point the “Roxie” (who is still standing IN FRONT OF my husband and I) tells everyone who did not come with the original group (which we were in) that they would have to leave and wait. She even went as far as to gesture to my husband and I along with that group as if she hadn’t just rudely walked in and stood in front of us moments before. Even more upsetting is she BLATANTLY tried to exclude the two of us as if we hadn’t noticed already that we were the only two African Americans in line. There was a nice lady who walked in with us who even turned around and looked appalled when she attempted to exclude us. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE. To be inconvenienced and then blatantly disrespected is UNACCEPTABLE. I will continue to escalate this matter until someone contacts me. I have never experienced anything like this but mark my words it will never happen at this establishment again once I am done.

Just stay somewhere else. The food was gross. The shower screeches when utilizing the hot water. Poor communication.

The valet guys were the best

Update! Elevators were still not working this morning at check out. Imagine waiting in a service hallway with 3 children a stroller and luggage for 5 people in a hotel with 17 floors. Supposedly everyone received a $100 credit for not having elevators almost the ENTIRE stay. That doesn’t even cover a nights stay AND my parents had to go back and request their credit.The manager didn’t even give me an opportunity to voice my concerns before cutting me off and handing us a business card. WHAT A JOKE...